Nuruosmaniye Mosque is located in Çemberlitaş, near Column of Constantine (Çemberlitaş), Gazi Atik Ali Paşa Mosque and entrance of Grand Bazaar (Kapalıçarşı). It is one of the finest example of Ottoman Baroque style mosques.

Nuruosmaniye Mosque

It was built on a square plan. There are 2 marble stairs to get in the mosque. 174 baroque style windows illuminate mosque. These windows are made of gypsum. Nuruosmaniye Mosque’s dome is one of the biggest dome in Ottoman architecture. The major dome’s diameter is 26 meters. Arch are carrying this dome. There are 32 windows on the bottom of major dome.

Like this:

Well, last time I was in Istanbul in November 2011 during Kurban Bayrami. If I hadn´t known in advance that my visit coincide this holiday, it would have remained unnoticed for me. Kurban Bayrami wasn´t visible in the central Istanbul. On the other hand Turkish TV programs were constantly reporting how this major Islamic holiday is celebrated all over the country. Visiting Istanbul was really nice, as usual.

I met some friends, strolled along the streets, visited mosques, wonderful exhibitions, had some genuinely good food. Pure delight.

Just a remark – during that visit I also made a short trip to Canakkale. No, I haven´t seen Istanbul enough, but Istanbul isn´t Turkey and vice versa. Some adventure would not harm, so I thought.

Returning to a familiar place is always a secure choice. Doesn´t require too much effort, you know. Istanbul has become somewhat familiar to me, I guess. Canakkale was worth an effort. But I´ll stick to Istanbul now and report of other places in coming posts.

Istanbul and Golden Horn, photo by Eleka Rugam-Rebane

While I am not in Istanbul I truly miss this place. Gercekten. And what´s the best remedy for that?

I try to go back there in my mind. Reconstruct places through texts, photos, daydreaming… Sounds like a severe disease, really J There are some web sources I visit quite regularly in order to update my knowledge about what´s going on in this city/country.

Ortakoy Camii, Ortakoy Mosque, Istanbul, photo by Eleka Rugam-Rebane

Some nice reading

Sure, there are presumably thousands of blogs praising Istanbul. One of my recent favorites is Turkey´s for lifewww.turkeysforlife.com which is run by a British couple living in Fethiye. Therefore, this blog is mostly concentrating on Fethiye and its surroundings. But they also pay a lot of attention to Istanbul. Blog is written in a humorous and lively style. I recommend. Good links to other sources. Continue reading →

This includes: Istanbul:my biggest love; Photo Tour:Turkey; some journaling/sketching/painting; writing ideas/thoughts; Genealogic research and attempts to understand life and things that occur in it...[not an easy thing]